HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

David Harry Walker (9 February 1911 – 5 March 1992) was a Scottish-born Canadian novelist. He was born in Dundee, Scotland, later moving to St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada, where he began his career as a writer. His work has been made into films.


Biography

David Walker was born near Dundee, Scotland and received his early education in
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
, later enrolling at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. After graduation in 1931, he was commissioned in the Black Watch. He served with the foreign battalion in India and Sudan (1932–38) and in Canada (1938–39) as aide-de-camp to Governor-General Lord Tweedsmuir, the novelist
John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. After a brief legal career ...
. There he met Willa Magee of Montreal, and they married on 27 July 1939. The couple had four sons together: Giles, Barclay, David, and Julian. In September 1939, amid the threat of war, Walker returned to England, where he trained recruits. The next year he was posted to France with The Black Watch
51st Highland Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...
. Captured by the Germans at St. Valery in June 1940, he spent nearly 5 years in prisoner of war camps, escaping three times; each time he was recaptured after getting outside the camp. While interned at Colditz Castle, he began to write poetry. Freed by American troops in 1945, he was later awarded the M.B.E. In 1946 he travelled to India, where he served for a short time as comptroller of the household for Viceroy
Lord Wavell Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, (5 May 1883 – 24 May 1950) was a senior officer of the British Army. He served in the Second Boer War, the Bazar Valley Campaign and the First World War, during which he was wounded ...
(1946–47). Following retirement from the British army, Walker returned briefly to Scotland. He emigrated to
St. Andrews, New Brunswick Saint Andrews (2016 population: 1,786) is a town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada. The historic town is a national historic site of Canada, bearing many characteristics of a typical 18th century British colonial settlement, includin ...
in 1948, intent on becoming a writer. A prolific author, Walker enjoyed a long and successful career, publishing approximately 100 short stories and 20 books. His novels ''The Pillar'', about a prisoner of war camp, and ''Digby'', a Scottish highlands story, won the Governor General's award for fiction for 1952 and 1953, respectively. Several of his books, including ''
Geordie Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitut ...
'' (1955), were made into motion pictures. ''Geordie'' was set in his native Scotland, while ''Mallabec'' and ''Pirate Rock'' were set in his adopted home province of New Brunswick. ''Where the High Winds Blow'', written following a dogsled adventure in the Canadian North, is considered his most popular Canadian novel. His last book, ''Lean, Wind, Lean'', an autobiography, was published in 1984. Two other motion pictures, '' Harry Black'' (1958) and '' Amanita Pestilens'' (1963) were based on Walker's stories. A plan to film ''Digby'' in Scotland with Spencer Tracy was aborted. Apart from his writing career, Walker took a keen interest in community affairs. An active conservationist, he served as president of Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Centre in St. Andrews and as chair of St. Andrews Centennial Park. Between 1965 and 1991, he sat as a commissioninterner of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission, serving as chair from 1970 to 1972. His success as a writer and his community involvement won him recognition. In 1955 the University of New Brunswick awarded him an honorary doctor of letters, and in 1987 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. Walker died at St. Andrews on 5 March 1992, at age 81.Source: UNB Archives and Special Collections


Works

* 1963 '' Amanita Pestilens'' * 1958 '' Harry Black and the Tiger'' *
1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...
'' Wee Geordie'' *
1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...
''Sandy was a Soldier's Boy'' *1949 ''The Storm and The Silence'' *1950 ''Geordie'' *1952 ''The Pillar'' (also released as ''The Wire'' 1953) *1953 ''Digby'' *1956 ''Harry Black'' *1957 ''Sandy Was a Soldier's Boy'' *1960 ''Where the High Winds Blow'' *1962 ''Dragon Hill'' *1962 ''Storm of Our Journey'' *1964 ''Winter of Madness'' *1965 ''Mallabec'' *1966 ''Come Back, Geordie'' *1968 ''Devil's Plunge'' (also released as ''Cab-Intersec'') *1969 ''Big Ben'' *1969 ''Pirate Rock'' *1972 ''The Lord's Pink Ocean'' *1973 ''Black Dougal'' *1976 ''Ash'' *1977 ''Pot of Gold'' *1984 ''Lean, Wind, Lean'' Source: anadian Books and Authors


References


External links


title / UNB Archives and Special Collections - David Walker

Canadian Books and Authors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, David 1911 births 1992 deaths Canadian male novelists Scottish novelists Writers from Dundee Writers from New Brunswick People from Saint Andrews, New Brunswick Governor General's Award-winning fiction writers Canadian science fiction writers Scottish science fiction writers 20th-century British novelists Members of the Order of Canada Black Watch officers 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian Members of the Order of the British Empire Scottish emigrants to Canada